3 Reasons You Need Project Portfolio Management Software

Project portfolio management (PPM) is a method used by organizations to plan schedules and allocate resources needed to bring a projectportfolio to success. Project portfolios are, at their essence, project management on a larger scale, as it concerns groupings of projects bundled into work portfolios. PPM is a system for analyzing the ROI, performance, and risks of each project portfolio, so that the right work can be prioritized.

For organizations with many simultaneous projects, PPM software is used to ensure all projects have the right manpower to be accomplished by the agreed upon deadline, while staying within budget. The software can also be used to benchmark and then forecast future resource needs, determine the ROI of project commitments, and manage potential risk.

PPM software can also handle administrative functions, such as monitoring the workloads of team members, tracking billable hours, and managing change requests. In short, the right PPM software helps teams overcome the many challenges that companies face as they engage PPM.

We're looking at the typical challenges associated with PPM, and how you can solve those with the right software:

Proposed projects that don’t roll up to support company-wide business goals

Projects are massively delayed, which negatively affects revenue and ROI — proving they could benefit from project portfolio management software

This is where the right tool can come in to help ensure the needed efficiency of the company.

The 3 Advantages of Project Portfolio Management Software

The entire point of PPM is to improve the bottom line by prioritizing the project portfolios that add value and contribute to the health of the organization. And when you use the right software for the job, you can do this at a much faster pace.

1. More Transparency Leads to Smarter Decisions

Project portfolio management software gives your teams transparency into work. Suddenly, the entire breadth of projects can be seen by the organization, which means you can make smarter, fact-based decisions on your work, instead of making decisions based on gut-feelings alone. This also means you can better align projects with company objectives.

2. Better Visibility Means Efficient Resource Management

PPM software gives you more visibility for better resource management. Since you can see who is working on what now and in the future, you can plan the distribution of your project portfolios accordingly and wisely. Goodbye, bottlenecks and delays.

3. Real-time Access Means Better Tools for Reporting & Analysis

Cloud-based project portfolio management software gives you real-time access to what work is being accomplished. You have the capability to produce timely reports and real-time analysis. Good PPM software also provides functionality for upper managers, such as portfolio budgeting, portfolio coordination, and ROI/forecasting, all of which contribute to getting a better handle on your project portfolios.

Why you need PPM software

Implementing cloud-based project portfolio management software is an efficient way to achieve the organization's business goals while working within the given resource constraints. If you have experience using PPM software, especially if you were part of the team implementing the tool for the first time, share your experience and advice in the comments below.